Today In History: Leopold’s Land Grab
February 5th: Today in 1885 King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State under his personal rule complete with his own private army, the Force Publique. He never visited his personal state, he used it to rip the resources out of Africa as effectively as he could while ignoring the human costs which most believe rise to genocidal levels of death. In his life he denied the crimes happened, but the evidence that the is nearly overwhelming. We do know that the so called ‘humanitarian kingdom’ left a region shattered so badly that even today it is in chaos and rife with horrific violence that stands out for its brutality even in Africa.
February 6th, 2007 at 8:45 am
King Leopold’s Ghost is a book well worth reading on this topic.
February 6th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Yep, I thought it was excellent. There did seem to be a mini backlash after it came out however with some saying his numbers of dead were too high. I think the exact numbers are a red herring, the real story is the callous exploitation of easy abused people.